The New Moon Saga
by Ginger Ninja 666
Summary: Tragedy befalls Equestria when the mysterious Library of Power is broken into. The only item stolen? An object that every unicorn describes as a tome of horrific magical power, that must be retrieved at all costs.
1. Theft

**The New Moon Saga**

Prologue: Theft

Ponies, while vastly influential to the world around them, have strived to keep their hooves on the ground for thousands of years (though this is figuratively speaking in the case of pegasi). They get curious, just like anypony else, and every now and then one of them will find a method of becoming more powerful than they really should. This information eventually ends up inside the Library of Power; A massive structure built to keep the information out of evil, and or misguided hooves. It's called a library because, on occasion, some will be permitted inside to partake of this knowledge. Only those who are worthy, and absolutely desperate for the library's help may enter. Finding the place otherwise is an arduous task, and one that could only ever be done by the most arduous and meticulous of ponies, for the library was built on top of a constantly moving formation of cloud. The library moves every day and only the ferry to and from it knows its exact location.

The Library of Power is ten stories tall, with every floor above ground level being made up of catwalks that run the circumference of the building. From ground level you can look up and see all the way to the highest ceiling, which is adorned with a beautiful painting of Princess Celestia with her wings spread wide, the sun shining brightly behind her, making it look as though she's illuminating the entire library. Bookshelves cover almost all of the walls. These books range from thick to thin, large to small, tattered to new. On every floor there are numerous wooden desks, each equipped with a small oil lamp. On the bottom floor there are numerous doors leading to private reading quarters. These small, secluded rooms are warm, cozy, and quiet. No expense was spared on aesthetics. The main materials used were white marble and crimson velvet, with highly varnished wood making up the doors, desks and banisters. Despite, or maybe _because_ it is a place that only a select few would ever see, the library was stunningly beautiful.

It was a rainy night. Many weeks had passed without even a splattering of rain; now the ponies were compensating for their binge of lush weather by inducing a storm. The day prior had been spent filling the clouds with moisture until they bulged and turned grey. They were then used to block the setting sun completely, allowing the rain to take prominence during the night, when most ponies would be at home sleeping.

The rain was still light at that moment. Inside the library, all anypony would've heard of it's presence was a soft, almost melodic drumming on the rooftop. The calming atmosphere, which could make even the most jaded of ponies take a deep breath and collect their thoughts, was abruptly broken when a terrifyingly loud bang sounded through the halls, followed by the sound of splintering wood and falling rubble. The once muffled tone of the rain outside had instantly risen in volume. Amongst the upsetting orchestra of chaotic noises, a faint twinkle could be heard, which was a tell-tale sign of Unicorn magic.

Another loud noise immediately followed, in the form of a piercing siren, calling to attention all of the guards within the library. They all looked alike, muscular pegasi clad in golden armour. A dozen of them converged on one of the reading rooms. Ramming the door open, they found that something had gone missing from their precious library; not a book or so they initially thought, but rather the room's fourth wall. A hole spanning nearly the entire length of the wall had been blasted through it, exposing the books and the upholstery to the elements that raged outside. The guards scanned the sky outside, hoping to see something. One guard noticed a faint shape flying in the distance. Without hesitation or pause for thought, he silently alerted his colleagues. A team of four of them spread their wings and leaped through the hole in the wall, taking to the sky in pursuit of their unknown suspect.

As though fate was mocking them, the storm suddenly took a turn for the worse. The relatively calm winds suddenly accelerated until it was more like a powerful gale. The rain also started lashing down heavier than before, whipping the pegasi in the eyes as they flew. These conditions made it impossible to give chase and the guards knew it. They could already feel how badly the wind was blowing them off course, and decided to call off the chase until morning. A few regretted their decision, but still returned to the library. One guard looked to the sky one last time, and saw the figure again, barely visible by that point. It was braving the storm as if it was nothing, even partaking in some intricate aerial manoeuvres as it flew. A truly shameless display.

"How can a pony fly like that?" The guard thought to himself.

As they were about to leave, An ear-splitting laugh suddenly flooded into the library from outside. They couldn't tell exactly where the laugh was coming from; it seemed to be being carried by the wind itself. It sounded triumphant, spiteful, and superior.

"We've been robbed! On the third floor!" Shouted down another guard. They made a quick run for the third floor. A few were already guessing at what had been stolen, since that exact floor only had one item worth stealing. As they bounded up the stairs their suspicions were immediately confirmed. A glass case, shattered, and missing its contents was waiting for them. Another guard was already standing next to the scene, stone faced as the rest but clearly trying to contain his frustration.

"The Guide's been stolen." He muttered, putting into words exactly what everypony else had already deduced.

"We'd best call the Princesses." Another guard finished for him. It wasn't looking good.


	2. Bad News

Bad News

Like the pegasi had planned, the violent storm eventually subsided, allowing them to make the following morning just as beautiful as they were used to. By the time the sun had begun to creep over the horizon, there was nary a hint that the storm had existed at all - especially in the small, earth pony-founded town of Ponyville, which had barely even been hit by the bad weather; the local pegasi had been feeling especially lazy, and hadn't bothered to fill up the sky with the necessary amount of clouds that night.

One resident of Ponyville might have had an issue with such lacklustre workmanship; Twilight Sparkle, Student of Princess Celestia and Ponyville's very own egghead. So book-smart was she, the young unicorn had actually taken to living inside the town's library alongside her companion and friend, Spike; there she'd be able to study to her hearts content without fear of disturbance. She was also Ponyville's best planer, and would've had a few words to say to anypony who was doing their job half-heartedly, up to and including any lazy pegasi, but thoughts of the storm were about to vanish from her, when her friends came knockin' that morning.

A sequence of fierce knocks suddenly assaulted Twilight's door. A highly energetic voice followed soon after:

"Twilight! Open up!" Still asleep in her bed, Twilight was obviously unable to respond.

"Yeah Twah! Are you awake?" A second, more southern-sounding voice followed.

"It's really important." said a third voice, which sounded a lot more tomboyish than the other two.

"Huge! mind-bogglingly important!" The first voice added, child like glee oozing out of her vocal chords. "Wait. Why is it important again?"

All this talk, and further discussions shared by the three were still all but meaningless to Twilight, who continued to sleep like a coma patient. So did Spike, who was curled up in his mattress at the bottom of the stairs.

Suddenly, a blue Pegasus with rainbow-coloured hair barged into Twilight's window, startling the young unicorn out of her bed. She gave a high-pitched yelp as she fell. The pegasus refrained from further attempts at Breaking & Entering, as soon as she saw her friend glare up at her from the floor. Though Twilight's eyes were still heavy and filled with sleep, she wrestled with her weary legs until she was standing again, whereupon she opened the window and let the eager pegasus fly into her house.

"Twilight!" The pegasus yelled, sending a shock down Twilight's spine that made her mane stand on end.

'_Today's gonna be one of those days,_' She correctly thought to herself, as Rainbow Dash continued to hover in the air, an eager smile clinging to her face.

"We have something cool to tell ya. Hold on, I'll let the others in." With that Rainbow Dash flew for Twilight's front door, barely allowing the exasperated unicorn time to gather her thoughts. Before Twilight could raise an objection, Rainbow had already managed to fling the door open, wordlessly welcoming both Pinkie Pie and Applejack into Twilight's sanctum. The two earth ponies looked up at Twilight, both of them infinitely more awake than their unicorn friend.

"Wah, mornin' Twahlaiht." Applejack said warmly, noticing Twilight's groggy condition as her friend struggled to descend the stairs.

"Yeah. Hi guys." Twilight's vocal cords strained to produce even that minimalistic reply, but nevertheless she still felt happy to see her friends, and put more effort into articulating her followup: "What was it you needed to tell me?" Her friends lit up.

"Well, Rainbow just got word from some outa town Pegasuses. They say some place got ransacked las' night." As Applejack explained, Twilight tilted her head in fascination, and rubbed a large chunk of sleep out of her eye as well. "Y'know, during that big ol' thunderstorm we were all tryin' to ignore?"

"It was someplace called The Library of Power. We thought you'd know it, what with you being Queen Brainiac and all." Rainbow Dash added, unable to refrain from her long-standing habit of peppering her tone with condescension when referring to academic matters. Twilight knew and accepted this particular personality quirk of Rainbow Dash's, and wasn't nearly as annoyed by it as she would've been before moving to Ponyville. Not that Twilight would've cared at this point anyway. For regardless of the tone in which it was said, "Library of Power", and a synonym for "stealing" had been used in the same string of sentences. That alone would be enough to terrify one of Celestia's pupils. Not that her friends knew any of this of course, which in turn lead to them mistaking her awestruck silence for a mere lack of understanding.

"You love books almost as much as I love parties, and the thought of some mean old Pony stealing my favourite decorations is horrible. Why if I ever got my hooves on a streamer picking meanie like that, I'd give 'im a hoof, right in the nose. I'd give him two hooves, no, three hooves, no four hooves, no I'd invite a friend over, and give him five hooves." Pinkie, though she always meant well, was unfortunately prone to going off on wild tangents - a habit that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were more than aware of.

"Pinkie. Focus. We're s'posetuh be talkin' about the Lahbrary o' power, remember?" Applejack's words came out nice and slow, trying to guide Pinkie back to the topic at hand... and failing, unfortunately.

"But that's boring. My imaginary thief is much more interesting." Scatterbrained as ever, Pinkie made an attempt to think things over for a second, before reaching the apex of her tangent. "At least I hope he's imaginary. Rainbow Dash, was my thief imaginary?" Without pause for contemplation, Rainbow Dash responded:

"No, he wasn't. He's still there now, Pinkie. You better run if you wanna catch him." Her squinted eyes and bitter tone of voice quickly betrayed Dash's weariness over needing to put up with Pinkie, and her desire to trick the pink pony away. Applejack swiftly noticed, and gripped Pinkie by the tail as soon as she started running full pelt for the door, trying to pursue a criminal who didn't exist.

"Woah there, pardner!" Applejack cried as she pulled on Pinkie's cotton candy-esque tail. She continued to gallop in place for a short while before she realised Rainbow Dash's deception. Both she and Applejack collectively scowled at Rainbow, who could only chuckle sheepishly in reply. Applejack turned her gaze back to the still-catatonic Twilight, slightly concerned by her friend's new-found quietness, but not enough to think that it was anything too serious.

"Apparently, the only thing stolen was some book called The Unicorn's Guide to Ultimate Power." Applejack's sentence was suddenly interrupted by Rainbow Dash's scoff:

"Hehe. What a corny title," Rainbow Dash wheezed out between her snickers. Applejack ignored her friend and continued: "Well, Twahlaiht? Y'heard of a book like that?" The three friends waited in anticipation for Twilight's reply, and so were noticeably disheartened when none came. Staring at the motionless unicorn, the three silently decided that leaving would be the best option, if only to give Twilight a proper chance to wake up. "Huh, guess an egghead can't know everythin'. Let's go, girls." They started to leave.

'_Maybe later._' That's what they were thinking.

They didn't get more than a few steps, however, as Twilight's front door suddenly took on a life of it's own and slammed itself in their faces with considerable force, almost enough to crack the door frame. All three of them tumbled onto their backs in surprise. Upside down, they saw a glow coming from Twilight's horn; with that, they instantly knew what happened. Maybe they were going to get a response after all.

"Unicorn's Guide... Ultimate Power?" Was all Twilight could say in her state. For the situation had become infinitely worse than she had first feared. Once again, Applejack mistook Twilight's demeanour as being something completely different.

"Hehehe. Yeah. That title's pretty silly, innit?" Applejack chuckled warmly.

"No. Oh no. Oh nonononononono. This is bad." Twilight, her fear having reached critical mass, could no longer remain frozen when there was work to do, so she freed herself with a spontaneous declaration of pure negativity. She glared at Applejack: "Did you just say The Unicorn's Guide To Ultimate Power? That it's been stolen?"

"W-well yeah. Twah? What's wrong-"

"Spike!" Twilight ignored her friend and made a loud call for her dragon compatriot. Her assertive voice quickly managed to wake Spike up.

"Wha? Y-yes Twilght?" Confused, but dutiful, Spike drowzily asked for his command.

"I need you to take a message." Twilight said quickly; like time was of the utmost importance. "Get your best quill."

"Oh what? I just got up here." Spike whined. Just because he would follow her orders didn't mean that he wouldn't complain about or try to delay them from time to time, especially when he wanted a bit of extra sleep.

"Just do it, Spike!" Twilight snapped at her faithful dragon, causing him to make a hasty retreat from his bed. He picked up a roll of aged-looking parchment and a fine quill before going back to Twilight.

"Are you okay, Twi?" Dash asked concernedly.

"Yeah, you've been acting a little... on edge this mornin', pardner." Applejack firmly stated the obvious.

"Oh? Have I?" Was all the reply they got from her, and it was said as dismissively as she could manage. "Now Spike, write this down:

_ Dear Princess Celestia,_  
><em> I hope you're feeling well in spite of the dark times you must be facing. I have just heard news that <em>_the Library of Power has been broken into, and that "The Unicorn's Guide to Ultimate Power" was the only item that got stolen. I greatly wish to aid her majesty in the retrieval of the guide. If there's any way I can be of some assistance to you, please don't hesitate to ask me._

_ Your most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle._

Did you get all that, Spike? Spike?" Twilight looked down at her assistant, who was now lying on the floor. She realized that he'd fallen asleep whilst transcribing. After a brief flash of annoyance, she looked over what he'd managed to transcribe. "Phew. At least he managed to finish it," Twilight said relieved. She then firmly stomped on Spike's tail. It didn't hurt him significantly, but nonetheless it caused him to cry out in surprise; said surprise escaped from his mouth in the form of light green fire that engulfed Twilight's letter. Spike sat up and began to rub his tail.

"What was that fo-" Spike started, before he noticed the flaming parchment laying in front of him. "Oh." He finished, sounding both dejected and understanding.

Anypony else might've feared for the document's safety. Not Twilight. She understood the magic that existed within Spike's fire, and how it reacted to the parchment he was using. Rather than burning to ash, the letter instead disintegrated. The ball of green flame then flew into the air, and left via the upstairs window. That was the method Twilight usually used to send letters to Princess Celestia. That ball of fire would fly over to the palace in the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, and reform into the letter once it found the Princess.

'_Please Princess, let me help._' Twilight thought to herself, watching as the sickly green orb finally vanished from her sight.

"Yeah, um, Twi?" Rainbow Dash's impatient voice caught Twilight's attention. The three fillies were still lying down on the floor, upside-down and looking at Twilight. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could maybe try keeping us in the loop on this one?"

"She's right Twahlaiht. At the moment we're seeming about ten chapters away from the same page here." Applejack spoke up as well, expressing her own irritation alongside Rainbow Dash. "Shoot, I'm feelin' about as clueless as Pinkie Pie."

"Don't be sad, Applejack. Being clueless is fun. Those pesky clues take the fun out of everything." Pinkie said, overjoyed as ever. Applejack could only stare at the pink pony in exasperation.

Twilight ran to one of her numerous bookshelves, where she began scanning the dozens of books within. Her sudden burst of energy also perked up her friends some, and they finally decided to get back on their feet.

"You girls are right. You all do deserve an explanation." Twilight once again spoke as quickly as she could. "That goes for Rarity and Fluttershy too." Twilight levitated a few of the books she'd been looking at out of the shelf, and put them in a stack in front of her. "Go find Rarity and Fluttershy for me. I'll meet you all at Sugar Cube Corner in exactly 1 hour. I just need to research a few things first," Twilight finished, having never once looked at her friends throughout the entire explanation. Spike walked over to them, and began to escort the three towards the front door. Over their shoulders, they could see Twilight pulling even more books off the shelf.

"You girls better go. Even though she hasn't said it yet; the Library of Power is a massive deal for Twilight," Spike said gently. The three looked at him curiously as they left the house. Spike placed a claw on the front door.

"What d'you mean Spike?" Applejack asked.

"Well, Twilight's wanted to go there ever since she was a little filly. In fact; for as long as I've known her she's been the same. It's just one of her dreams." Spike answered, reminiscing. The three looked intrigued, but Spike started to close the door. "I think it'd be best if Twilight told you the full story. You girls find Fluttershy and Rarity, I'll make sure that she meets ya." Spike closed the door, Leaving Twilight's friends with a multitude of unanswered questions - all of which would have to wait for a whole hour. They sighed and turned away from the door, setting off to find their friends.


	3. Preparations

Preparations

The Equestrian capital of Canterlot. Built onto the side of a mountain, this expansive city, with its sprawling palaces and tall buildings, is also marked as the true home of Equestria's royal family, who act as the rulers, the lawmakers and the peacekeepers of their fair country. Truly, all eyes sit fixed upon them, as they are the ones trusted to decide what's best for Equestria on a day to day basis. Despite being perpetually faced with this incredibly daunting task, the royal family had managed remained consistently fair, just, and kind throughout its millennia-long existence, and had come to be beloved by all. They acted as a beacon of hope for the masses, and every member of the family had become widely idolized in some fashion, by both fillies and mares.

There was one exception: the proverbial black sheep as it were. A young girl, whose long life had been awash with pain, misery, hatred, and loneliness. A filly who had once given into her darker impulses, and became a monster who threatened the very stability of Equestria itself. The black princess, whose very job kept her out of the spotlight, away from anyone who could appreciate her:

Luna. A powerful Alicorn who had to herald the coming night whenever the sun was set. She did this by using her power to raise the moon itself high up into the sky, dragging along with it the countless stars that spread across the Equestrian skies in precise constellations of her own intricate design.

She was the literal creator of the night, and painstakingly crafted all of its nuances, all of its beauty, and all of its mystique. It was her masterpiece, and along with the day (sculpted by her older sister Celestia) had become just as integral to pony life as the food that they ate, or the air they breathed. No being had a better reason to feel proud of itself, and she did.

The problem was: her subjects had refused to give Luna's awe-inspiring night any form of real acknowledgement. Not out of hatred, for either her or her creation, but because, as cruel fate would have it, Equestria had decided that Night would be the time when all of ponykind rested. The effect this decision had on Luna was far-reaching and completely devastating. While the ponies would frolic, work, laugh and celebrate in the bright glow of Celestia's Day, these same ponies would then shut themselves in their homes, and leave Luna to watch over an empty world, where scarcely anyone would stop to praise her, or bask in the unique beauty of her night, a uniqueness that she had poured years of effort into perfecting. Luna was stuck in a completely thankless job, and even though she loved her sister more than anypony else in the world, a splash of green was still able to contaminate her once ashen soul, and she began to grow increasingly jealous as the years past her by. All of the loneliness, envy, and greed that existed within Luna would eventually explode, and twist her body into that of a monster, Nightmare Moon. In this form, Luna decided to force her night upon Equestria, and sought to keep her masterpiece in the sky for the rest of eternity. This would have the catastrophic side effect of destroying all of Equestria's plant life, which would in turn wipe out the pony population as well, due to a lack of food. Even when confronted by the deeply disappointed Celestia, Luna refused to yield. Celestia was eventually forced into fighting her sister's deranged alter-ego.

Equestria's most powerful weapons, "The Elements Of Harmony", which could only be used by the truly pure of heart, were what Celestia used to defeat her sister. There power was able to seal Luna away inside the moon; the traitorous Alicorn became part of her precious night for an entire millennium. In lieu of another pony capable of raising the moon, Celestia took over Luna's role as the harbinger of Night. This left her with both the sun and the moon at her command, Making her the master of both Night and Day.

Luna was sitting down. She was in the middle of a pristine, circular room with no roof. The floor was made of ceramic and bore the detailed image of a crescent moon, depicted against a starry background. Four drains lay dotted about the floor. The smooth blue walls were completely barren all the way around the room's circumference (except for a set of double doors which allowed ponies access to the area). All one could do in this room, was sit and stare up at the sky, and that was precisely why Luna loved it so; there were no silly distractions, just a quiet place where she could peacefully admire her creation whenever she wanted to. However, this time she was contemplating more than just the night, which she couldn't enjoy much of anyway, due to the pegasus-induced thunderstorm that was obscuring the entire sky with ugly grey clouds. She was actually thinking back on her time as Nightmare Moon, something she'd been doing a lot that morning, and about how much she wasn't able to remember.. An entire millennium of her life had passed, and yet she could barely remember a second of it. It felt wrong, and upsetting. Even though all those memories would've been hate-filled and spent in the constant darkness of the moon, Luna still wanted them; they were a part of her, proof of what she had suffered through for her crimes. As things stood, all Luna had inside was an unexplainable feeling of intense regret, and a sense that she'd suffered through an unspeakable amount of loneliness. It was almost like her heart could remember, but her brain couldn't. As the rain fiercely pelted her powerful body, Luna suddenly felt glad that there was so much water in the air, as it easily hid her tears of sorrow from anyone who would think to walk in. She thought back to the fateful moment when Nightmare Moon died:

Nightmare Moon had used the stars to finally free herself from her entrapment. She kidnapped Celestia, and once again vowed to plunge Equestria into eternal night. six ponies, led by Celestia's star pupil Twilight Sparkle, had ventured deep into the dangerous Everfree Forest in order to find a way to harness the Elements of Harmony, and defeat Nightmare Moon in Celestia's stead. Nightmare Moon hindered their progress at every turn, but was ultimately unable to stop them from finding the elements. After a brief moment of despair when she couldn't get the elements to work, Twilight was able to discover the secret to their activation, and unleashed their full power on Nightmare Moon. Rather than banishing her to the moon again, the Elements instead reverted Luna back to how she had been before becoming Nightmare Moon. Luna remembered the initial feeling after it happened: It was like a great pillow that had been resting on her soul was suddenly lifted, and even though her memories had been skewered, she still felt like her mind had been cleared of something wicked. As soon as she saw Celestia again, that was when the twin feelings of loneliness and regret struck her shaken mind. She immediately apologised, and was amazed when she was almost instantly forgiven in turn by her sister.

After that day, Luna returned to her old position, and was once again in charge of the moon. She promised Celestia that Nightmare Moon would never be seen again. That was a vow that she'd been desperately trying to keep, mainly by choosing to isolate herself from her subjects as much as possible, so as to not get too attached to them, and accepting any lack of acknowledgement she received as a justified form of penance for her traitorous actions. She also directed most of her effort into winning back Celestia's respect (though she already had it).  
>Such a cynical solution was constantly preying on Luna's mind, so she would sometimes take a few minutes out of her day to gaze up into the sky and cry, reflecting on the horrible choices she made that lead her to this point.<p>

"Princess Luna!" A royal messenger urgently stormed into the room, instantly becoming drenched as the heavy rain lashed down upon his body as well. Due to the storm's incredible noise, Luna didn't hear the messenger the first time he announced her name, but once he repeated himself, she quickly hopped to her feet and assumed a dignified demeanour more befitting an extremely powerful princess.

"Yes?" she asked, yelling as loudly as she could, feeling slightly embarrassed that someone in her position should be forced to contend with the weather in order to be heard by a subordinate. Luckily, after that brief exchange of sentiments, the storm had started to lighten up.

Before long it halted completely, having served its purpose. Luna and the guard shook themselves in order to get the excess moisture out of their coats, then the guard answered her question dutifully: "Your highness, You've just received an urgent message from the Library Of Power." Luna's eyes widened.

"What? What's the message about?" She asked. The messenger nodded respectfully, and replied:

"They say there was a break-in, Your Highness." The messenger paused; it was possible that he was considering the ramifications of what he was about to say. After an impatient glare from Luna, he continued: "The Guide's been stolen." Luna immediately stormed past the messenger and exited the room. As she passed by him, she gave the bitter command:

"Follow me." The messenger nodded and obeyed, joining two of Luna's personal bodyguards, who had been stationed just outside of the room. They all followed closely behind their princess, as she forcefully trotted from one side of her vast palace to the other, in search of one specific room.

"I'm going to tell my sister, she's the one who'll know exactly what to do. In the mean time, I want details. How could the library have let something like this happen?" Luna looked back at the messenger, sounding worried but still authoritative.

"We don't know, Your Highness. The library staff are still trying to figure out what happened. All they were able to say is that unicorn magic was used to blow a hole in one of the library's walls. A few members of security saw something flying away from the library and they gave chase, but the storm prevented them from catching whatever it was." The messenger answered honestly.

"Well now we know there has to be at least two thieves. " Luna said, vocalizing her thoughts.

"Two, Your Highness?" The messenger tilted his head at Luna's deduction.

"Think. There had to be a unicorn inside the library to cause all that damage, right? The unicorn would've needed someone that could first fly them up to the library, then away from it once the guide had been stolen." Luna backed up her claim as she made a sharp turn into a long, spacious corridor. At the end stood a large, heavy looking pair of golden doors. Adorned with numerous engravings of the sun. Two guards stand vigil beside them.

"Maybe the unicorn used a spell to give itself wings? It's not impossible." The messenger replied confidently.

"No. The Library's alarm is set to go off whenever unauthorized magic is cast. It works both inside, and out of the building. If the thief was using fake wings, the staff would know about it." The messenger nodded at Luna's plausible explanation. "Besides, a unicorn with artificial wings could never have flown in that storm. Trained guards who excel in aerial pursuits couldn't even handle it."  
>Luna's eyes narrowed. "Whoever it was had to be somepony phenomenal. Maybe even as good as the Wonderbolts." Truly it had to be some kind of strange compliment when Princess Luna was comparing a criminal to the greatest flyers in all of Equestria.<p>

"That's another thing, Your Highness: after calling off their pursuit, one of the security personnel reported that he saw the thief partaking in complex aerial manoeuvres in the distance. In spite of the storm. Almost like it was directly taunting the library staff with its skill." Neatly, but cautiously recalling the guard's worrying testimony, the messenger stared as Luna's expression grew ever more nervous, just like he thought it would. Luna couldn't find anything of substance to say in response, so she didn't say anything at all.

"Celestia will know how to handle this. My sister can do anything." Luna thought hopefully. That hope being the only thing she had going for herself, as the rest of her mind was succumbing to panic fast.

They approached Celestia's room; the guards on either side of the doors bowed respectfully to Luna. She gave them a small nod in return and continued waking forwards, when suddenly a loud noise halted her progress. Whatever it was, it sounded sharp. She looked down and saw two white wings, one from each guard, extended out in front of her chest, barring her path. Celestia's guards rose from their bow and assumed their previous posture, except with their wings still in a position to block Luna.

"Forgive us, Your Highness. Her Highness Celestia is still resting," One of the guards said coolly. Luna could respect how dedicated those guards were, being perfectly okay with keeping a member of royalty (a powerful member, at that) away from the person they were tasked to defend. However, she had no time to waste lingering outside in the hallway, so she shot the two of them a deathly glare that basically screamed at them to get out of the way. Still, they didn't yield, and bravely stood-fast against the black princess' piercing eyes. "She's not to be disturbed," They both said firmly. Luna didn't move, since she knew exactly what to say next:  
>"The guide's been stolen," She said as bluntly as she could. The guards' eyes lit up in surprise, and they instantly retracted their wings.<p>

"Go right in, Your Highness" A noticeable hint of fear in their voices, the guards spoke almost simultaneously. Luna nodded gratefully, and entered her sister's room. She was glad that the guards had stood down, since in her worried state of mind, she probably would, in her worried state of mind've tossed them aside otherwise.

Celestia's room, much like her personality, was surprisingly calm, and definitely wasn't as grandiose as the massive golden doors that made up its entrance would lead one to believe. The colour scheme was warm but not overly bright, with a lot of oranges and dull décor was fancy but not any more so than the chambers of a lesser member of nobility. A massive painting of Celestia and Luna took up most of the far wall. It depicted the sisters as fillies playing in a wide open field. It had been able to capture one of Luna´s happiest moments, and the last one she would have for over a thousand years. It was a heartwarming picture, especially for Luna, and in any other situation, she might have taken a brief moment to stare at it. What was distracting her right then though, was the suspiciously empty bed sitting in the dead centre of the room, the bed that Celestia should've still been asleep in. Luna's heart skipped a beat.

"Guards!" She cried, looking around frantically for any trace of her sister. The terrified princess practically tore Celestia's room apart, with the five equally stunned guards joining in the search too.

"My sister's gone! I want you all to alert the other guards. Then organize a search party to-" Before Luna could finish her frenzied command, the door to Celestia's room eased itself shut, and a figure who was standing behind it till then ran up to Luna's side.

"Boo." Its soft voice echoed into Luna's ears, the surprise made her let out a high-pitched shriek, until had she realized who it was who had snuck up on her. Celestia, divine as ever, was standing no more than a few inches away from Luna's face. Her perpetually flowing hair, made up of real rainbows, had draped itself over Luna's back. Upon Celestia's face was her usual warm expression, radiating about as much light as the sun she had duty over. Luna still looked a bit rattled. Celestia chuckled serenely to herself then spoke:

"Good morning sister." Luna quickly tried to regain her composure.

"G-good morning, sis." Smiling at Luna, Celestia then aimed her calming voice at the guards.

"A search party won't be necessary, good sirs, I was just having a little fun with my sister." The guards bowed, and summarily left, two of them returning to their posts outside, the other three merely waiting patiently in the hall. Luna put a little bit of distance between herself and Celestia.

"Sister. I need your help. I just got word that the Library Of Pow-"

"Yes, yes I heard, 'The Unicorn's Guide To Ultimate Power was stolen, right?" Celestia interrupted Luna, and got to the ultimate point of what her sister was going to say. Luna looked at her sister with a puzzled expression, wondering how her sleeping sister could've attained such knowledge before she did. Celestia quickly picked up on her sibling's concern, and smiled: "You were talking quite loudly. I was able to pick a few things up, sand I agree with your deduction perfectly. I was actually rather impressed." Celestia added a head tilt to her happy grin, and Luna's curiosity was sated.

"So you understand? Then we should both get out there and start investigating. Together we'll find the guide in no time." Luna smiled (however weakly) for the first time that day, thinking that the situation might take a turn for the positive with Celestia at the helm.

"We could do that. But first I think we should raise the sun, don't you?" Celestia stated merrily, right before walking out of her room. Luna followed, having to break into a semi-gallop to keep up with her much taller sister.

"Then we start investigating?" Luna asked worriedly.

"As I said, we could do that... or we could let our subjects handle it." Luna curiosity spiked again.

"Um, sis? This is the Guide we're talking about. Don't you think you're acting a bit too calm?" Luna wondered. "Shouldn't we be a bit more concerned about this?

"Oh but I am. The guide needs to be retrieved; I know that more than anyone. I've seen firsthand the kind of devastation it can cause. The lives it can ruin. It's just that I also have complete faith in my subjects. I believe that, with proper guidance, they should be able to catch this thief for themselves. Don't you?" Celestia aimed her question right at Luna's soul, knowing that she'd been trying to avoid socialising with her charges. Luna was taken aback, and struggled to find an answer:

"But they're not as-" Luna wasn't able to finish. Celestia obviously had a reason for putting this much trust in the commoners, and Luna wanted to find out. "Do you really believe they can do this sister?" Celestia smiled.

The two sibling emerged from their beautiful palace. The cold night air, still damp from the storm, caressed their divine bodies, as they ended up atop a massive crystal white staircase. Below them stood at least five hundred ponies, all looking up at the two in hushed anticipation. As they were waiting to see the end of the night, and the start of the day, as orchestrated by The Princess' of white and black. It was a daily, but wondrous practise. Celestia spoke, as both she and Luna prepped to begin:

"I do trust them. I need to. Without these ponies, we'd have no purpose, there'd be no point in doing this every day." Luna didn't reply, and instead aimed her horn towards the sky, ready to set the moon.

First, she closed her eyes, feeling the very existence of the night all around her, accepting it as something she had total control over. The stars, the moon, the crisp air. These were all things that belonged to her, and she wanted them to be like putty in her hooves. She then spread her wings wide, the biting wind tickling them slightly, making them tense up. She begun to flap her feathery appendages delicately, willing to push the night away, back towards the moon that served as its focal point. Far above the clouds, the ponies saw the stars, as if being carried by a gentle stream, beginning to float away. Luna sharply lowered her head, and in the horizon, the crowd saw Luna's silver moon begin to break through the clouds, parting them as it descended. Behind it, like a cape, were all of the stars as well as the hint of dark blue that Equestrian nights always had; they, along with the moon, vanished down into the horizon, leaving the sky looking like an empty black void. The crowd's eyes then shifted to Celestia, who immediately took to the air with her wings, she flew upwards, her movements forceful, like she as pulling something - something heavy. On the opposite horizon, a blinding light crept into view. The sun, rising slightly with every pained inch that Celestia ascended, fired a sweeping ray of warmth across Equestria, and instantly replaced the black void above with a beautiful morning sky. Celestia stopped, and let the sun stay close to the ground, knowing that it would continue its journey across the sky without her.

The crowd let out a cascade of thunderous applause for their princesses. Celestia waved gratefully to her ponies, whereas Luna quickly retreated back into the palace, the bright light of the sun being something that she still wasn't accustomed to. After a few minutes, Celestia joined her, and they continued their chat as if nothing had happened:

"That's one reason why I've decided to trust them, but also, I'm afraid I'm not going to be here for the next few days, so I literally have no choice in the matter." As Celestia smiled, Luna re-lit her once extinguished panic.

"What? Where are you going?" Celestia giggled lightly at her sister's distraught tone.

"I need to negotiate with the bordering countries. It's probably going to take me a while." Celestia replied, a hint of tiredness in her voice. Luna began to think out loud:

"Isn't it a little odd that the guide was stolen on the same day you were supposed to leave?" Celestia gave a slight shrug.

"Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was planned. Either way, I'm not going to be able to help until I come back," Celestia said regretfully.

"But what if you send me instead, sis? You're needed here. I'll do the negotiations for you." Luna quickly said as she volunteered, desperately wanting her sister's brilliant mind to stay in Equestria. After a moments contemplation, Celestia slowly shook her head.

"Politics have changed in the thousand years that you were gone. I'm the only one who can properly represent Equestria at this point." Celestia explained sadly. "You can lead the investigation into the guide if you want to. If I can trust my subjects, then I can certainly trust my own sister." Luna's eyes widened, and she looked overwhelmed by her sister's sudden proposal.

"O-on my own... but sis I'm nowhere near smart enough to do that."

"Then why don't you work with the ponies in Canterlot?" Celesta asked earnestly. Luna squirmed on the spot a little.

"You know I can't do that, sis. I... I wouldn't even know how to talk to them."

"Oh, It's not hard, Luna. You just need to start off slowly, and takes things one hoof at a time." Celestia said warmly.

Suddenly, a ball of bright green fire flew into the palace; both sisters reacted to its presence with sudden rapt interest, recognising it as a relatively rare form of transportation. The orb stopped just in front of Celestia, and in a bright flash, it morphed into a piece of parchment. Celestia opened it up to find a letter. Twilight's letter. The older sister read quickly, with the letter's contents gradually making her face light up.

"This is wonderful. I honestly didn't think she'd find out so quickly. Twilight Sparkle, you truly are amazing." Celestia said out loud, but mostly to herself, this still didn't stop Luna from overhearing her though.

"Is that from Twilight?" Luna asked, gesturing towards the note with her horn. Celestia nodded, and another piece of parchment flew to her side, along with a quill, which began to jot down an unseen reply for Twilight.

"This is perfect, Luna. Twilight wants to help us find the guide. So why don't you assist her?" Luna tilted her head. "It's a nice way for you to get used to interacting with people."

"No! Absolutely not. Not after all I did to them," Luna said firmly, thinking about all the danger she must have put them in as Nightmare Moon. Celestia sighed softly. The quill writing her reply stopped, and the parchment rolled itself up. Celestia walked forwards, and softly placed her front hoof onto Luna's head.

"But they forgave you. You should know that by now. I didn't raise my students to hold grudges, even against the ponies who mean them harm. You're a good pony, Luna. Please don't forget that." Luna didn't react to Celestia's speech; instead, she turned her sorrowful gaze to the floor, leaving Celestia to worry about her sister.

The moment was then ruined, when a pegasi-drawn chariot could be heard approaching in the distance. Celestia looked up and realised that it was for her, to take her to the border of Equestria. With a minute or so before it arrived, she once again spoke to her little sister:

"Just think about it. I know my most faithful student. Twilight's going to investigate this whether I tell her to or not." Celestia levitated the new letter to Luna's side, resting it on her back. "In that reply I've promised her a consultant. If you feel like helping her, then please deliver it. You can use one of my fireplaces." Celestia smiled. The chariot pulled up outside of the palace. Celestia withdrew her hoof and started walking towards it.

"And if I don't?" Luna said weakly, her eyes still fixed audible to the floor. Celestia gave no reply, and she kept on walking away from her little sister, still smiling her gentle smile.

That wouldn't happen; she was sure of it.


End file.
